


Chasing You (Literally)

by justanotherfishinthesea



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Coming Out, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, How Do I Tag, Middle School AU, Runners AU, also inspred by my XC team because our entire season is like a bad fanfic, background zalfie, cross country au, i am literal trash, i might write more in this universe who knows, it depends on how cliché and inspiring the rest of the season is, kid!phan, kiddie love, kind of inspired by me and my bf but I suck at running, theyre like 11-13 in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-08-12
Packaged: 2018-08-07 19:52:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7727644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherfishinthesea/pseuds/justanotherfishinthesea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In wich Dan and Phil are the best runners on their modified XC team, and everyone ships it. But they love eachother like brothers would, and Dan is 100% straight. Or is he?</p><p> </p><p>Disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about how schools in the UK work, especially not the sports, and I never specify location, so let's say that this takes place in America. Also, they may all be a bit OOC, because I had to turn a bunch of full-time internet homos into people who would willingly do sports.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Heart Beats Fast

Dan sighed as he tugged on his Cross-Country uniform. It was way too big, and you could always see his nipples as he ran because his school was so small, they couldn't manage to buy uniforms that fit the modified team (or the modsquad, as his coach called it. She was corny as hell, but everyone loved her) so they were stuck with the Varsity team's old stuff. The girls' uniforms fit fine, as the only size of girl hat their small town seemed to be able to produce was petite, with delicate arms and powerful legs that made them perfect for running. Giving up on making his uniform look like anything other than a potato sack, the kind that their teachers had them race in on Track and Field Day. Dan grabs his phone to check tumblr, laughing at someone complaining about having a small school, because he knows for a fact that there's no way that their graduating class could possibly be smaller than his. He has 43 people in his grade, and he likes it that way. They're the awkwardest, most fucked up family in the universe, and he loves it. He loves that he knows that, no matter where he goes in life, he will always have them behind him, supporting him through whatever life decides to throw at him, and ready to catch him if he falls. He knows that he will always do the same for them. Dan eats a medium-sized plate of eggs, not too big, so he won't cramp, but not too smaill so he'll still have enough enough energy to race. He pulls on his warmups, wich he is very excited for, they didn't have warmups last year and they looked so uncoordinated. He walks over to Phils house, across the street, opens the door and hollers, "Phil if you don't get your lazy butt down here right this second we're going to miss the meet, and we're racing first!" up the stairs. In 30 seconds, Phil is downstairs grabbing a Nutrigrain bar and running out the door next to him, muttering something about his straightening iron and a graham cracker. It was always impossible to tell with him. Phil looped his arm around Dan's shoulders and Dan leaned his head on Phil's shoulder, as Phil asked "So are you ready for the big race?" Dan giggled, replying, "Phil you say that about every race, and the answer is always yes. And by the way the only race that matters is sectionals, because that's the only one that factors into the league title.", and slipping his arm around Phil's waist, and ignoring the feeling that this is probably the last time he'll be able to do this, as inevitably, Phil won't want anything to dowith him after he comes out as bi on the bus like he's been planning to. "Hey you've got hobbit hair!" Phil exclaims. "Well yeah, if I straighten it, it'll sweat out, and everyone will notice and call me gross so it's just better not to.", Dan replies and starts jogging slowly. "Let's warm up, we probably won't have time to before we have to line up." He tells Phil, who nods and starts jogging next to him.  
|| time skip to the bus bc why not ||  
Dan is halfway through the bus ride when he decides it's time for him to come out. They're playing Truth or Truth, a game that they invented after PJ did a front tuck in the aisle of the bus while they were at a gas station, and Coach told them they were no longer allowed to play Truth or Dare. Alfie had just asked the question "What is something that none of us know about you?", and now the team had to go around and answer it. The game regulated itself, because whoever asked the question had to answer it. Dan decided that it was a perfect way for him to get it off his chest. Zoe went first, saying "I've already had my first kiss", and earning a squeal and a "Who?" from both Louise and Cat. In answer, Zoe grinned sheepishly, and gave Alfie a peck on the lips. The girls squealed, along with Dan and Phil, who had been proclaimed honorary girls within a week of the season starting. Next came Alfie, who simply pointed at Zoe and said "Ditto. Next!" Louise and Cat both said that they were both open books and shit at keeping secrets. Next was Chris, who blushed like a tomato, and looked at PJ, before saying,"I-I, umm, I'm gay.", and it seemed like he was going to say more, but he didn't get to, as PJ grabbed him by the back of the head, and kissed him like Chris was his oxygen, as if even if the the world was ending, as long as they could still kiss eachother they'd still be okay. Little did Dan know, as he stared at them, happy for the two, but desperately wishing that it was him and Phil in that situation, Phil was doing the same thing. Alfie wolf-whistled, and the two blushed and pulled away, PJ saying "Same, bro." Before pulling Chris to the back of the bus, saying "We need to talk.", earning an eruption of laughter from the rest of the team. Dan cleared his throat, before saying, "Well, I'm pretty sure you guys are going to want nothing to do with me after this, but I'm bisexual. It's real, I swear, please don't hate me." Blinking fast, Dan looked down, hiding the tears pooling in his eyes, until he feels Phil's arms wrap around him from behind. "We could never hate you, Dan." Phil asys as Dan burys his head in his shoulder. "Besides, I am too."


	2. Winning You

||Let's skip to the race because bus rides are hard to write||

As expected, the boys' team got no time to warm up when they got to the race, rushing to the start as soon as the bus stopped. They took off their warmups, and huddled together, trying to preserve what little heat they had in their uniforms. Five minutes left to the horn. Chris and PJ peck eachother on the lips 'for luck'. Zoe kisses Alfie on the cheek, and leaves to go warm up with the girls, throwing an optomistic "Good luck boys!" over her shoulder. And then, the boys circle up, put their fists in the middle, and yell " One, two, three, TEAM!", and then they're lined up at the starting line, and Dan's repeating the phrase 'turnover' over and over in his head like it's some magic spell that will make him go faster. Phil's doing the same thing, but with 'pacing'. The countdown starts, drowning out the deafening mantra of the boys teams repeating their keywords to themselves, and all of the sudden the world falls away, and the only thing that matters is the feeling of spikes sinking into the dirt, and 'turnover', and 'strong start', and 'just pass this one', 'you're so much faster than that one', 'oh this one's from HAC? You have to beat him.' It's calming really, knowing that people aren't judging you by anything but what you know you're good at. As Dan runs past the tents, he sees the entire rest of the team cheering from outside the tent, cuddled up in blankets, and having the time of their lives, as he would be in 15 minutes when he'd finished his race and calmed down and gotten a cup of cocoa. The boys raced, letting their minds wander, but thinking how lucky they were to have found such a wonderful community. Everyone always uttered a "you got this, keep going!" or "Are you okay?" to anyone they saw that seemed to be having a hard time running.  
|| time skip to the end of the race because why not?||  
Fifth place he could deal with, Dan thought, as he jogged into the shoot, and broke into a sprint, but fourth was better, he added as he passed the person in front of him, vaguely aware of Phil doing the same thing behind him. It didn't matter what places they came in, the modified boys team always came in in the same order. Alfie, then PJ, then Dan, Phil, and Chris consecutively. Taking up places 1-5 today, the boys added three more trophies and two ribbons to the school's already packed trophy case, which was impressive, seeing that the only sports that ever won anything were girls' soccer, XC, and Cheer. As Dan walked through the shoot, their places already set, Phil ran up behind him, looped his arm over his shoulder and squeezed tight, saying "You got a trophy!" in his ear as the announcer cheered, "And the Brooks Modified team dominates again! Always in the same order, how do they do it? In first we have Alfie Dayes, followed by PJ Liguori, who is tailed by Dan Howell, and Phil Lester. Fun fact! I talked to their coach today and she said that she's tried everything and it has proven to be impossible to separate those two. And then in fifth place, last but certainly not least, Chris Kendall!" The team was swept into a group hug, and they got pats on the back from the varsity boys, and they all grinning ear-to-ear because this is what they train for. Technically, the purpose of their training is to help them race better, but running two miles in 12 minustes isn't why they put up with training five days a week and racing two. They put up with it for this moment, here they know they've done well, and they did their best so what does it matter anyways? The next ten minutes were a blur as they all stretched the burning feeling from their limbs and wished the girls luck, Dan and Phil got bone-crushing hugs from Louise. Then, Alfie went off to cheer Zoe on from every possible location, and PJ and Chris told Coach that they were going to take a look around. Dan and Phil were left alone for a while. "Do you want to go find food?" Dan asked, fiddling with the zipper of his warmup jacket. "Sure!" Phil replied, leaning over to get his money from his duffel bag. The two walked away from the tents until they reached the pavilion. They looked around, but didn't find any food. "I'm too awkward to go back empty handed." Said Phil. "Me too. Do you want to go sit under the bleachers for a while?" Dan asked, blushing and looking at his feet because holy crap he likes boys I'm a boy and whatifhelikesme? "Okay, let's VAMANOS!" Phil yelled, grabbing Dan's hand as he pulled him under the bleachers, tripping in the process and dragging him down on top of him. Dan blushed and was about to get up when Phil wrapped his arms around his waist. "Hey Dan?" "Yeah?" "I really like you." "I like you too." And then they kissed, and it wasn't like the books Dan immersed himself in had discribed it at all. It was a low burn that started in his toes, and spread all the way up to his fingertips, which were curled in Phil's hair at the moment.  
They say middle school relationships aren't meant to last, but maybe, just maybe, this one would.

||Nineteen Years Later (yes i just made that reference)||  
The door slammed shut with a bang, followed by a "Dads, I'm home!" Dan walked into the kitchen, and grabbed a bag of chips. He went back to the living room and plopped down on one side of Phil, Lucy sitting on the other. "So how'd your day go?" Phil asked Lucy. "Great!" She replied, "I signed up for Cross-Country today!" Dan smiled. "Oh really? I'm sure it'll be a lot of fun."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my second work on the Archive, I had to delete AYAGK for personal reasons, but hopefully it will be back up soon. I really appreciate all of the positive feedback everyone gives here, it really inspired me to write more. xxx -Zoë


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